What is Misophonia?

Do you have an intense emotional reaction to hearing someone eating with their mouth open, sneezing, coughing, sniffling or chewing? Do you feel enraged when someone makes repetitive noises like tapping, clicking a pen, typing on a keyboard, eating crunchy foods or making other sounds that make you want to run away or lash out at the source of the sound? Have you wondered why you experience these reactions and sensitivities and wonder if you are the only one who has these problems? When your “trigger events” occur, does it seem like other people don’t take any notice to the sounds that affect you so strongly? Guess what…

You’re not alone!

Welcome to Misophonia Online – a website that seeks to answer the question: “What is Misophonia?” This site is designed to provide support to those who suffer from this little known syndrome and hopes to bring awareness of this sound sensitivity to the general public.

Misophonia is also sometimes referred to as selective sound sensitivity syndrome (can be shortened to 4S); a condition in which a person reacts irrationally to certain sounds that most people take little or no notice of.

This disorder is not caused by a hearing impairment and it elicits excessively negative and immediate emotional and physiological responses. This sensitivity to certain sounds can have a negative effect on a person’s life causing problems with activities of daily living. Interactions with significant people can also be affected in ways that create tension or interfere with personal relationships. The disorder can have a deleterious effect on one’s usual support system and the potential for social isolation exists. In an attempt to avoid problematic situations, a person can become withdrawn and shy away from others in general.

This website has resources to help explain and provide information about the condition, suggests coping mechanisms and offers tips to help you manage your individual symptoms. The highlight of the site is the Misophonia Support Forum. This is a place where you will find an entire community involved in on-going discussions and having interesting and useful conversations about Misophonia. There are separate forum sections for friends and family members as well as forums for success stories, medications, research, media and philosophy. Now that the question “What is Misophonia?” has been introduced, it’s time for further exploration. Please accept this invitation to join in on discussions, learn about symptoms and possible triggers and hopefully get some answers to your questions about Misophonia.

Need a brochure for yourself or to give to someone else? Download an informative Misophonia brochure in Microsoft Word format here.or an Adobe .pdf file here. Help educate people about selective sound sensitivity syndrome and give them an answer to the question of “What is Misophonia?” Share what Misophonia means to you or how you explain Misophonia to others.

Click the Facebook icon or the RSS icon at the top right of the page to go to the Misophonia Support Group on Facebook or the RSS feed.